Grotesqueries of the Old Domain

Chapter 38: The Enemy

"Shhh—" accompanied by a flash of red light, a one‑meter‑long wound instantly appeared on the monster’s left foot.

That strike almost completely severed its left leg.

Foul, putrid liquid gushed from the wound as the monster staggered and dropped to one knee.

After several coordinated strikes, Zhang Wenda and Song Jianguo had inflicted more than a dozen wounds on the monster’s body.

Black fluid seeped from the monster’s countless gashes, spreading through the library’s water and contaminating everything around.

Yet even so, the monster still moved. It swayed its tattered body and rose again from the water, opening its black maw and releasing a viscous roar toward Zhang Wenda.

Whether it was a trick of the light or not, Zhang Wenda inexplicably felt that the creature’s body had become noticeably larger than before.

On a nearby bookshelf, Song Jianguo glanced at the black cat beside her that was panting hard enough to vomit. She said to Zhang Wenda, “We can’t keep this up—my cat can’t hold on much longer.”

Gasping for breath, Zhang Wenda also looked down at his flashlight. The red beam flickered violently, as if it might go out at any moment.

He glanced at the red core in his arm, now completely drained, and inhaled deeply. “We try one more time. One final time. You cover me! I’m going to slice off its head!”

“Damn it! I never should’ve agreed to come in here!”

As the monster charged Zhang Wenda again, he gritted his teeth and counter‑rushed.

Just as the cat‑shield formed swiftly in front of him, blocking the monster’s shattered fist…

Amid the continuous “meow meow,” Zhang Wenda stomped on the cat‑shield, leapt onto the monster’s broad arm.

He gripped the flashlight tightly and climbed the rotting limb toward the monster’s head.

Seeing that black mouth closing in, Zhang Wenda let out a roar of his own and swung his weapon forcefully downward.

With a final "shhh," the red light in his hand flickered out completely just as he fell forward into the water.

When he crawled out, gasping for breath, he stared upward at a massive head crashing heavily down to the floor.

Zhang Wenda turned and waved at Song Jianguo in the distance. “It’s over! Come on over!”

But she seemed terrified—flailing her arms and pointing frantically behind him.

At that moment, Zhang Wenda felt droplets falling on his head like rain. He turned and saw the headless corpse bending over to pick its brain from the water.

Watching this, a deep sense of helplessness washed over Zhang Wenda—this thing was impossible to kill. How on earth were they supposed to fight it?

As the huge head was placed back on the body, Zhang Wenda’s gaze dropped from it to the rotting child in its belly. The child’s expression was contorted—and it was crying even more violently than before.

“Could it be…” Zhang Wenda charged again, grabbed the rotting flesh, and leapt into the monster’s abdomen.

He didn’t attack or pull the child’s corpse, but took from his pocket the large White Rabbit candy Ouyang had given him—and shoved the still‑wrapped sweet into the monster’s mouth.

The instant the candy entered the rotting child’s mouth, the increasingly enraged monster froze in place.

Gasping, Zhang Wenda leapt from its belly back into the water, took a few steps backward, and watched its swollen body collapse and disintegrate before him.

Eventually, it disappeared into the water along with the rotting child like bubbles.

“Wow—how did you do that?” Song Jianguo asked, surprised, walking over to the now-empty water.

Zhang Wenda shook his head. “I don’t know. I just had a feeling.”

She held her chin thoughtfully, then decided not to overcomplicate things. She whistled to the black cats at her side.

With a chorus of meows, the cats fused into a furry black cat-boat floating on the water.

Song Jianguo stood like a captain, one foot on the bow. “So, where to next?”

Zhang Wenda gathered his thoughts, grabbed the boat’s rim, and climbed aboard. “We go back.”

“Back? You’re not searching further?” Song Jianguo asked, surprised.

“Back first,” Zhang Wenda repeated, glancing at his now fully drained red core.

“We’ve been at this for too long. We’re tired, it’s late, and who knows what else lurks in this place? It’s not safe to stay.”

“And the library’s right here. Once the red core recharges—and we’ve got more candy—we can come back and keep exploring,” he explained reasonably.

This place was too dangerous; they needed to prepare fully.

Song Jianguo agreed without hesitation—after all, she was tired after working all day.

The two of them sat in the cat-boat, hundreds of cat‑legs paddling beneath, and slowly moved toward the exit.

With some rare free time, Song Jianguo rolled up her sleeve, rinsed it in the water, and wrung it out vigorously.

“You think that was a person? If it was, how could it dissolve in the water?” she asked.

Zhang Wenda looked at the rows of bookshelves passing by. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the library’s lingering obsession.”

Suddenly, he spotted a book floating nearby, its pages slowly opening—as if tempting him to read it. He quickly looked away.

Then Zhang Wenda noticed something under Song Jianguo’s sleeve: her skin was lightly tanned, yet beneath the sleeve it was snow-white, with small dark tattoos.

Catching Zhang Wenda’s attention, she turned slightly and slid the wet sleeve back on.

“What’s wrong with your hand?” he asked.

“None of your business,” she snapped, inexplicably angry.

Zhang Wenda was puzzled—why did she suddenly snap like that?

Before he could ask again, his expression turned serious. He leaned over the boat’s edge, staring intently at the calm water.

When he saw concentric ripples spreading, his brow furrowed. “Something’s not right! Jianguo, make your cats go faster!”

Song Jianguo blew her whistle sharply and the cat-boat sped up—but even at full speed, it couldn’t outrun what was coming.

Amid eerie trembling sounds, a tall figure staggered toward them—it was an “old man,” and then more “old men.”

One, two, three—more and more old men surrounded them. Under their looming forms, the light around them dimmed.

At the sight, Song Jianguo’s cat ears drooped until they lay flat against her hair.

Swallowing, she stepped back. “Hey—can you handle so many of them?”